Page 4 of One Snowy Day
The amusement was all Georgie’s now as she feigned innocence. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’
Kayleigh had her head in the fridge, going for the teenage breakfast trifecta of a bottle of water, a smoothie and last night’s leftover pizza. ‘You know he wants to get back together, Mum.’
It was way too early for this conversation, but now that it was here…
‘I do. How do you feel about that?’
Kayleigh delivered her second shrug of the morning. ‘It’s up to you. Please don’t fall for that clichéd thing and do it for me though. I honestly am fine with how things are now.’
Georgie nodded sagely. ‘I don’t know how you ended up this cool, but I’m taking the credit.’
‘Good genes and absorbing the wisdom in Taylor Swift songs.’ Kayleigh made her way to the door, food stash in hands. ‘Be nice to see you happy again though, Mum.’
Had it been that obvious that she was unhappy? Cue a fresh wave of maternal worry that despite her best efforts, maybe she hadn’t maintained an emotionally stable environment throughout her divorce and the subsequent years. Had she scarred her kid for life? She let the shutters drop on that one before it took hold, and she climbed onto one of the gorgeous silver mesh bar stools at her kitchen island, thinking as always that she really needed to buy new ones that were beautiful, but didn’t leave your arse looking like you’d been sitting on a cheese grater.
She pulled her phone out of her dressing gown pocket andsaw there was a text from Grant. It must have come in while she was in the shower.
Sis! On my way. Be there about 11a.m. Any news on the job offer yet?
The job offer. Personal hairdresser for world-famous Scottish actor, Ollie Chiles, on the set of an American TV show. The only benefit of fretting over her parents leaving was that it had temporarily distracted her from stressing about this potential opportunity to land the kind of role that defined a career. One that had come out of the blue a few days ago and completely rocked her world. One that she hadn’t even known that she wanted until it became a possibility. One that would definitely put an end to any prospect of rekindling her marriage. One that would throw her mum’s plans for Georgie to take over the salon into complete chaos. She couldn’t possibly entertain it.
Could she?
She’d been told that confirmation of the official offer would come by phone call or email, but she’d heard nothing. Maybe it wouldn’t even come to fruition. Yep, that would be the best outcome. Move along. Nothing to see here. Nothing lost. No impossible choice to be made.
Until she had all the details, there had been no point even considering it, so she’d chosen denial instead. But now that Grant had brought it up, it was right back, front and centre in her mind, and a huge wave of mixed emotions – anxiety, regret, anticipation, fear, and yes, undeniable excitement – came with it.
She tried to flip back to denial. Don’t look. Don’t do it. Don’t think about it.
Apparently, her hands were ignoring her brain.
With shaking fingers, she checked her calls. None missed. Sheflicked to her emails. Nothing much more than discount codes for online shopping and a reminder that she was due a smear test.
Other missed texts? Just one from her Aunt Cathy saying her sister, Aunt Loretta, had been on the throat lozenges and hot tea with honey, and she reckoned her voice was going to hold up for the singing at Jessie’s shindig tonight. It also said that her daughter, Helena, a hotshot lawyer and the scariest member of their family, and Cathy’s lovely granddaughter, Eve, were going to make it to the party too. Georgie knew Kayleigh would be thrilled about that. Despite Helena’s sharp, brusque manner, Kayleigh adored her, and she’d been the biggest inspiration in her decision to study law.
But other than that?
Nothing else. Nada. No word.
Clearly this was the universe taking the choice out of her hands and that could only be a good thing.
Today was the first day running the show at Copper Curls and Georgie just had to be content with that.
Because if the role of her wildest dreams had come through, then she would have to choose between taking it or continuing Jessie’s legacy in the salon her mum had built from scratch. How could she pick a new life, on the other side of the world, knowing that it would break her mother’s heart? No. She could never leave. And that was fine, so time to forget the whole crazy pipe dream and get on with real life.
And she was just about to do that when her phone began to ring…
3
ALYSSA CANAVAN
This was Alyssa’s favourite time of day. She’d come down from her flat upstairs to The Once Upon A Time Café on the ground floor hours ago, but it wasn’t yet open, so back in the café kitchen, it was just her, with the radio on in the background. Michael Bublé was crooning that it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas – and given the sudden downpour of snow outside, he wasn’t wrong. There was fresh coffee on the table, and the gorgeous aroma of cinnamon rolls coming from the oven as she rolled out the dough for the fresh baked croissants that would go in next. Her gaze flitted to the old clock on the wall, made by her grandad, Hugo. A former engineer, he’d built it for their gran, Effie, a couple of years before she passed, when he still had fingers that were nimble enough to put the tiny parts of the mechanism together, and the patience to make it work. Now he’d say life was too short and have a wee dance to an old Beatles tune instead. That was why both the customers and Alyssa loved that he worked in the café now, but given that he was past retirement age, he only came in from 10a.m. to 2p.m., and even then, he had free rein to take any day off if he felt like going fishing.
Her other member of staff, however…
‘Don’t panic, I’m here! Everyone as you were,’ came the usual morning command as her younger sister, Ginny, breezed in the door, beanie hat pulled down over her chestnut hair, ear pods in, trainers on, and phone in hand, despite Alyssa telling her on a daily basis that, according to social media, phone snatching was rife and she should leave the handset in her bag at all times.
‘Considering the closest we get to a crime wave in Weirbridge is the occasional theft of a pot plant, I think I’ll be fine,’ Ginny would inevitably argue, so Alyssa had now officially given up.
